May The Force Be With You

Watch J.J. Abrams Offer Fans a Walk-On Role Live from the Set of Star Wars: Episode VII

Brush up on your lightsaber skills! Director J.J. Abrams is offering some lucky, charitable fan a walk-on role for Star Wars: Episode VII. In this video, shot on the Star Wars set in Abu Dhabi, Abrams explains that this walk-on contest will help launch a new program called “Star Wars: Force for Change” which, according to Abrams, ”is dedicated to finding creative solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems.” Your reward for helping with the launch? Disney Studios will fly you and a guest to London, let you visit the closed Star Wars set at the famed Pinewood Studios as Abrams’s V.I.P. guest, and put you through the elaborate Star Wars hair and make-up process. Here is Disney’s official statement:

The first Star Wars: Force for Change campaign will raise funds and
awareness for the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) Innovation
Labs and its innovative programs that are benefiting the world’s most
vulnerable children. Disney has committed US $1 million to support the
launch of Star Wars: Force for Change. Fans can now contribute
directly at Omaze.com/StarWars for a chance to appear in Star Wars:
Episode VII. For each $10 contribution made through the Omaze
fundraising platform, eligible participants will be automatically
entered for a chance to win this once-in-a-lifetime experience. The
campaign runs from 12:01am PST on May 21st until 11:59 p.m. PST July
18th.

Omaze.com, Disney Studios official partner, is a relatively new platform that’s already hugely prominent in the world of online charitable giving. Their previous efforts have been incredibly successful and include “Win a Date with George Clooney” which raised $1.2M for The Satellite Sentinel Project, and “Hang Out in Hollywood with Ben Affleck & Matt Damon” which raised $700k for Eastern Congo Initiative and Water.org. The chance to transform into a Wookiee has got to be worth at least as much as a date with Clooney, right?

In addition to information on the new initiative and contest, the Abrams video offers a tantalizing glimpse of what to expect from Star Wars: Episode VII. He goes out of his way to assure die-hard fans that they’re in the right hands by claiming to love the franchise as much and for as long as they have. We also get a peek at some whimsical Star Wars puppetry, which confirms Abrams’s earlier promise that the new trilogy will place an emphasis on practical effects, rather than CGI. For a chance to witness this brave new world of Star Wars, and to find out more about “Star Wars: Force for Change” and UNICEF’s Innovation Labs, visit StarWars.com/ForceForChange or simply enter at Omaze.com/StarWars. May the odds be ever in your fa-whoops! Wrong one!